Museum of the Broads

The Museum of the Broads stands in Stalham, a small town in Norfolk beside the network of rivers and lakes known as the Broads. It is an accredited museum and registered charity whose purpose is to bring the story of the Broads to life. The Broads themselves are a patchwork of navigable waterways and shallow lakes spread across Norfolk and Suffolk. The museum covers every aspect of the Broads, from landscape and industry to wildlife, local people, holidays and boats. Its collections include boats, models, marsh tools, boat plans, paintings, books, photographs and postcards, alongside items of social history. Visitors can step aboard the Victorian steam launch ‘Falcon’, built in 1894, and cruise the waterways. The displays also feature the research and equipment of ecologist Joyce Lambert, who showed in the 1950s that the Broads were shaped by human hands. The museum first opened in Potter Heigham in 1996 before moving to its present site at Poor’s Staithe in Stalham in 1999. It is supported by patron Henry Cator OBE DL and run by trustees and volunteers. Each year the museum welcomes more than eight thousand visitors who come to see its varied exhibits and take in the riverside setting.